Tapestry of immigration at Ukrainian museum
Art, clothing a pioneering culture’s legacy
SASKATOON – Black-and-white photos showing faces filled with hope and determination hang on the walls of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada.
In front of the pictures are pieces of clothing, some with delicate beadwork from a region known as Bukovyna while others have detailed embroidery. There’s a wedding ensemble from the Hutsul region.
And of course there are pysanky — better known as Easter eggs.
“It’s a mixture, but it tells the story of people who came to Canada, who they were and why they decided to move,” says Krystyna Hudyma, the museum’s curatorial and programming assistant.
Those are just some of the artifacts at the Saskatoon-based museum, the oldest Ukrainian museum in the country.
The museum was founded in 1936 by the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada.
“Those women, they got together and they decided that since we have so much interesting things — we have our traditions, we have our clothing, we have our language — and it is really different from what people would have here, so we should get together,” Hudyma said.
“We should start collecting and we should start preserving things for future generations.”
The first wave of immigrants from Ukraine came to Canada starting in 1891. They were drawn by the promise of free land.
“They just jumped into the opportunity. They sold everything, packed their trunks and they left,” Hudyma said.
She said unlike some other groups, they have not completely assimilated. There are still such things as language and traditions that show even fifth- generation descendants are Ukrainians, she said.
One gallery features a vibrant series of paintings by William Kurelek entitled Ukrainian Pioneer Women.
Starting in October, one gallery will showcase a new exhibit by Edmonton artist Iryna Karpenko.
Another gallery is dedicated to the history of Ukrainian immigration.
“Our museum is not about Ukraine. Our museum is about people who came from Ukraine to Canada,” said Hudyma, who moved to Saskatoon from Ukraine two years ago to do a master’s degree in linguistics.
In moving to Canada, she also found out more about Ukrainian traditions. She knew about making Easter eggs, but never did it with the same flair.
“Every Easter families will get together to make Easter eggs and in Ukraine, I don’t know maybe because it wasn’t a part of the culture during Soviet times or something else, in my family we did not spend much time making Easter eggs,” she said.
“We just do it in one colour and that’s it, and here that’s a form of art. They’re beautiful.”
One display at the museum shows how the Easter eggs take shape.
There is a stylus that is used to write on the eggshell with beeswax. Hudyma explains the eggshell is then dipped into a dye, usually yellow to start.
The part underneath the wax stays white. She says the artist then uses more wax to draw on the eggshell, this time over area intended to remain yellow.
The eggshell is then dipped in the next colour, usually orange.
The process is repeated as the colours get darker.
Finally, a candle is used to melt away the layers of wax and reveal the brilliant colours and pattern underneath.
“It’s a huge part of Ukrainian Canadian life,” she said.